We have taken an aggressive position regarding the issue of fall protection. Over the years we have heard many stories of preventable worked injuries and death. The industry as a whole has used unsafe work practices for years by allowing unprotected climbing. We feel strong methods must be used to change these habits.
Stage Rigging has had a fall protection policy requiring the use of harnesses in effect for more than fifteen years. We have modified our position regarding the type of harnesses and when they are to be used several times. We are now at a point where the technology is available and affordable to protect workers from most fall hazards associated with working on various show elements including lighting, truss, scenery and projection platforms. Since federal and state laws are clear in that fall protection is required, we can no longer ignore safe work practices nor do we choose to be involved in projects with other vendors who not share our concern for worker safety and compliance with law. We also do not believe these issues should be arbitrated during load-in because it is counter-productive for most involved. To this end, we want to raise the issue well in advance so that fall protection can be provided without exorbitant cost and to clarify what is considered acceptable.
In 1992 ANSI published the Z359.1 standard which sets reasonable standards for the manufacture, use and testing of most fall protection equipment. We would look for evidence of compliance with this standard in determining what equipment would be acceptable. Fortunately, most harnesses, lanyards etc. that comply with this standard are permanently marked as being in compliance. This is a simple way to screen equipment that workers or employers present as acceptable fall protection equipment. One issue that is not addressed by the Z359.1 standard is the use of horizontal lifelines. Although not addressed by the ANSI Z359.1 committee, all reputable fall protection sources, including references in OSHA require that due to the complexity in calculating forces in horizontal lifelines, they must be designed and installed under the supervision of a qualified person. Due to this requirement, we look to the design statements by whoever designed the system to make our determination of whether a particular system or installation is acceptable.
